Lovely ‘leccy car breaks out of Oz

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It’s the kind of thing that a conference organiser dreams about: a product launch that goes around the world. That’s what last week’s Electric Vehicle Conference in Brisbane got when a local collaboration launched an Australian-built e-sportster.

The companies behind the yellow prototype electric sports car are machinery firm Varley - a name is more familiar on the back of airport baggage trolleys - plus Ultramotive and Tritium, which collaborated on the powertrain. Tritium supplies, among other things, motor controllers for solar-powered road racers.

For reasons El Reg doesn’t quite understand, the showing of the prototype evR450 passed by scribes until yesterday (Australian time).

While its top speed is limited to 200km/h to preserve battery life and range, the lightweight machine hits 100km/h in less than four seconds, which has sports car hacks excited, with GTspirit claiming the car has a 150kW power rating and 522Nm torque for each of its two 40kg engines.

Its batteries give it around 150km range - unless, we suppose, it’s in the hands of Jeremy Clarkson - with an optional extension pack taking it to 300km. So with the long-range batteries, you’ll get just 1.5 hours at top speed.

The car was designed in Varley’s Queensland workshops, and the company plans a 2012 launch with a price tag under $AU200,000.

Looks like it’s time for this hack to get accreditation as a motoring journalist... ®